Interview with Nalin, The author of A Mug of Love

Ravi: Hey Nalin Tell me about yourself?

Nalin: I completed publishing two books recently but to reach here my journey has been quite long. I am quite an enthusiastic person which never lets me down. Completed my B.A. from Shridhar University, I have always been engaged with the thoughts of writing. So, by putting a bag on my shoulder and little money in pocket and one sleeper class ticket I came to fulfill my dreams on 14th November 2014 to Mumbai.

To survive, I started working in restaurants near 14 hours a day. Though I would not get time to go out in the new city and discover how to achieve my dreams. But who knew that 'The revolution 2020' by Chetan Bhagat, the book that inspired me first, would bring revolution in my life too. This pandemic gave me the time which I always wanted to put on my writings and managed to do some courses to get a strong build for it.

Currently, I am doing quite good progress by not only publishing books but also handling social media sites and also my own blog and planning to write more books along the way.

Ravi: What’s your favorite short story?

Nalin: I prefer going through the novels of Chetan Bhagat and some magazines rather than short stories.

Ravi: The Best piece of writing advice?

Nalin: Believe in yourself and keep following your own style, let the world know this is your mark.

Ravi: Where do you write?

Nalin: Usually I type on my laptop.

Ravi: Where do you get your ideas?

Nalin: From the books and some from the movies also some from my surroundings and imagination.

Ravi: Does writing energize or exhaust you?

Nalin: Writing only energizes me and makes me achieve my goal.

Ravi: How long on average does it take you to write a book?

Nalin: On average it takes a few weeks.

Ravi: If you had to do something differently as a child or teenager to become a better writer as an adult, what would you do?

Nalin: Actually I have been doing till now, observing every story in the books and movies and twisting them with my own imagination that I generally see in the surrounding.

Ravi: What is your favorite childhood book?

Nalin: Gopal bhar because the character which is depicted in it is quite intelligent which use to give me ideas of how to tackle things in life.

Ravi: What are your favorite literary journals?

Nalin: Nothing in specific! I only go through it when I come across any of them.

Ravi: What one thing would you give up to become a better writer?

Nalin: The thing I would give up on is earning well and my time to become a better writer.

Ravi: What was your hardest scene to write?

Nalin: Out of all the stories in “a mug of love”, I found the story of “rich maid” difficult to describe because being a maid she also had a maid in her house.

Ravi: Do you Google yourself?

Nalin: Yes I did and I found it quite interesting because it shows my profile only.

Ravi: Do you hide any secrets in your books that only a few people will find?

Nalin: The secret I hide is my message towards the nation through the story's short part.

Ravi: Do you read your book reviews? How do you deal with bad or good ones?

Nalin: On every review, movie I try to find my strength and weak points through the reviewer's point of view and try to practice them in my writings.

Ravi: Have you read anything that made you think differently about fiction?

Nalin: My imagination generally comes from the mixture of my surroundings and imagination or from some movie scene which I convert into my imagination so no any specific story I can mention on.

Ravi: What did you edit out of this book?

Nalin: Nothing as such as I mentioned.

Ravi: How many hours a day do you write?

Nalin: I write until I am completely done pouring out my feelings so nothing fixed.

Ravi: How long were you a part-time writer before you became a full-time one?

Nalin: I was never into a part-time writer since I had to survive so I managed to scribble out my thoughts at times.

Ravi: What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?

Nalin: I believe doing research would hamper my writing skills as I write fictional stories so I prefer scribbling my thoughts before I write a book rather than researching.

Ravi: What’s the best way to market your books?

Nalin: Through social media.

Ravi: How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have?

Nalin: None because I believe in completing one work at a time and I am planning to publish another book by the end of this year.

Ravi: How did publishing your first book change your process of writing?

Nalin: Publishing my first book gave me the knowledge on how to present a book and what all I can add over in it to make it more interesting.

Ravi: If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?

Nalin: Keep up your thoughts and focus the way you have always kept you'll reach towards your success anyways.

Ravi: What other authors are you friends with, and how do they help you become a better writer?

Nalin: As of now no one.

Ravi: Do you try more to be original or to deliver to readers what they want?

Nalin: I try to be original as per my thoughts suggest.

Ravi: What advice do you have for writers?

Nalin: Be the way you are because every thought is unique and never let yourself down just because people don't value your thoughts.

Ravi: What are the most important magazines for writers to subscribe to?

Nalin: I don’t recommend any magazine as such, you are free to go through whichever you feel is helpful for your thoughts.

Ravi: Tell me about your recent book to our Ravi Reads Blog Readers?

Nalin: A mug of love - this is my latest book and is based on a couple of short stories which comprise of different types of love.

To Know more about Nalin's A mug of love check out this link

Thanks to Nalin for agreeing to this interview! If you know of an author who’d like to be featured in an interview (or you are an author who would like to be featured), feel free to email me at the address on my contact page.